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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28462440">the grace of morning</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/iimpavid/pseuds/iimpavid'>iimpavid</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>a violent tongue for violent deeds [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Character Study, Cuddling &amp; Snuggling, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 00:02:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,083</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28462440</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/iimpavid/pseuds/iimpavid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Erestor is not a morning person.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Erestor/Glorfindel (Tolkien)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>a violent tongue for violent deeds [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1037535</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>32</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>the grace of morning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Listen, sometimes you have to write mindless fluff. Even <i> I</i> must sometimes write mindless fluff.</p><p>Unbeta'd so be nice.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It wasn't rare to find Erestor sleeping in-- as much as his position as Chief Councilor to the king permitted, at any rate. But Glorfindel treasured the sight  of him at rest anyway. He, himself, had been up since dawn caught the tail end of twilight, turning everything lavender-grey and cool. Discipline demanded no less of him and he was happy to give those quiet hours over to it. It kept him sharp. It gave him the opportunity and excuse to be the one to wake up his husband most mornings rather than leaving such things to the slowly mounting warmth of morning.</p><p>Erestor, meanwhile, snored faintly. He had gathered all of their blankets to himself in an approximation of another body to sprawl across. His hair was half tangled around the pillow below his head, cascading over one edge of the bed because he'd moved with the sun in his sleep, keeping as much of his bare back exposed to it as possible. It was a shame that he didn't have Glorfindel's tendency to freckle.</p><p>Glorfindel toed off his boots and stretched out beside Erestor, slipping an arm around his waist. Pliant and warm with sleep, Erestor leaned back against him, not quite conscious... but Glorfindel was undeterred. He planted a weaving line of kisses long Erestor's shoulder and by the time he'd graduated to sucking on his earlobe, Erestor's breathing had shortened and one grey eye had slid open to glare at him.</p><p>"Good morning, melleth-nîn." Glorfindel was inordinately pleased with himself and couldn't keep it from his tone.</p><p>Erestor closed his eye again and groped across the bed for a pillow to pull over his face and block out the sun.</p><p>"You know," Glorfindel starts in a genial tone, "I could have woken you up like I do my recruits," he strokes a warm hand up Erestor's flank, "with a bucket of water. But then I thought to myself: No, I should be kind and kiss him awake instead. And here you are grumping at me; you're not making it very easy to be kind." </p><p>Erestor heaved a sigh. He wouldn't be seduced. That was the trick of mornings: they lulled one into a false sense of security so that the day could creep in and ambush the unsuspecting. Muffled by the pillow he complained, "Before I've cleaned my teeth?" </p><p>"I enjoy the taste of you in every situation." </p><p>With an indignant noise, Erestor shoved the pillow into Glorfindel's face. </p><p>Glorfindel laughed, "You walked right into that!" </p><p>Before he could think about it, the found their positions reversed: Erestor didn't climb over him and out of bed but instead manhandled him into being the small spoon. He pressed his face into the expanse of Glorfindel's back and wrapped his arms and legs around him for good measure and resolved that he would fall back asleep, if possible. Now that the morning birds had mostly quieted and the streets below their window weren't yet bustling, he could make it if he tried.</p><p>"Now this is unfair." </p><p>"Be quiet, I'm sleeping." By great effort, Erestor spoke with a façade of wakeful authority. It was a useful trick, one cultivated with long decades at practice attending meetings of state far too early in the morning. <br/>
But Glorfindel knew better. It would be another hour at least before Erestor was as sharp as he sounded.</p><p>"I've been up since dawn. I think you can manage to emerge from your den for a mid-morning meeting just this once." </p><p>For a breath more Erestor tightened his hold but then accepted his fate, relaxing his hold on Glorfindel and pushing at his shoulder. "I need tea." </p><p>"Ah, yes, I see where my uses to you lie," he teased, but he'd started the kettle over the fire not long ago in anticipation of just this very demand. He was proud of his impeccable timing.</p><p>By the time he returned to their bedroom with tea and a tray of apt-looking fruits in hand, Erestor had levered himself upright. There were still blanket creases across half his face, though he rubbed at them with one hand, and his hair was determined to form a bird's nest at the base of his neck. Then, all at once as if catching the scent of fresh tea revived him, he stood and took the tray from Glorfindel, swanning out of the bedroom in search of  the dining table.</p><p>"And here I was thinking you'd enjoy breakfast in bed." </p><p>Erestor's reply was well-reasoned and succinct and carried just a hint of <em>that's what you get for thinking:</em> "Crumbs." </p><p>There was nothing Glorfindel didn't love about mornings that found them both with time to spare and no need to rush through the day at a breakneck speed. Smiling to himself, he caught up with Erestor and steered him to sit on the tabletop. Erestor, though deeply confused, was still asleep enough to be guided. It was all a clever ploy to make him easier to kiss; there was less distance to close between them that way.</p><p>"Lazy," Erestor chided between kisses, warm and just off-center.</p><p>"Says the councilor who must be dragged from his bed by his husband." </p><p>Erestor pulled away to find his tea but he didn't let Glorfindel go too far, keeping his legs firmly around Glorfindel's waist. "Yes, exactly, of the two of us I have the most authority to speak on the matter of laziness-- unlike some zealots I might name who are compelled by no good sense to wake up at indecent hours when even the birds are still sleeping." </p><p>"You say such sweet things to me when you're tired." </p><p>"There's more where that came from," he threatens amicably, resting his forehead against Glorfindel's shoulder. His tea cup is warm between his hands. "Did you use the honey from Líssië?" </p><p>"Of course; her bees are easily Imladris's greatest treasure."</p><p>Erestor hummed in agreement.</p><p>With nimble fingers, Glorfindel started trying to make sense of the nightmare Erestor's hair had become. How such beautifully pin-straight hair could tangle so much after a single night's sleep was beyond him but it was, at least in part, his own fault Erestor had forgotten to braid it before bed. </p><p>They stayed a while like that, absorbing the quiet rhythm of the morning, at least until Erestor got tired of having his hair finger-combed. He shifted to kiss Glorfindel, "I would be hopeless without you," and took his tea and retreated to dress for the day.</p>
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